Driving Licence Withdrawal in Switzerland: The Führerausweisentzug Ladders Under Art. 16 SVG

A Swiss driving licence can be withdrawn through an entirely separate legal track from any fine or criminal sentence a traffic offence produces. This page works through that track alone, the Führerausweisentzug system set out in Art. 16 through Art. 16d SVG. It answers exactly how long a withdrawal lasts, what makes a violation leicht, mittelschwer or schwer, and what changes if the driver still holds a probationary licence.

The system is built as two ladders, not a single scale. A mittelschwere Widerhandlung climbs through five separate rungs, and a schwere Widerhandlung climbs through its own five rungs, and each rung carries its own statutory minimum and its own look back window. Getting the window wrong, not just the minimum, is the most common way this cascade gets misapplied.

It is part of our wider Swiss traffic law coverage, itself part of the broader guide to Swiss law.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

Two different reasons a licence gets withdrawn: Art. 16 SVG

Art. 16 SVG sets out two distinct grounds for withdrawing a Lernfahr or Führerausweis, and the difference matters because only one of them runs through the graduated ladders below. Under Art. 16 Abs. 1, a licence must be withdrawn once the legal conditions for holding it are no longer met, for example because a driver is no longer fit to drive at all. Under the same paragraph, a licence can also be withdrawn at the authority's discretion where case specific restrictions or conditions attached to it are ignored.

Art. 16 Abs. 2 is the paragraph that actually triggers the ladders in Art. 16a to Art. 16c. It applies specifically to traffic violations for which the Ordnungsbussenverfahren, the fixed penalty procedure under the OBG, is excluded, meaning the violation is too serious for a simple fixed fine. For those violations, the outcome is either a formal Verwarnung, a warning, or a withdrawal for a set minimum period, run through the leicht, mittelschwer or schwer classification described below.

Art. 16 Abs. 3 is the provision that makes the entire cascade below a genuine minimum rather than a guideline. An authority setting the exact length of a withdrawal must weigh the danger to traffic safety, the driver's fault, the driver's record on the road and the driver's professional need to drive, and may extend the period on that basis. What it may not do is set a shorter period than the statutory minimum for the applicable rung, with one narrow exception tied to a criminal sentence reduction under Art. 100 Ziff. 4 SVG, a provision this page does not detail further.

Art. 16a: the leichte Widerhandlung and its single escalation step

A leichte Widerhandlung is defined narrowly. It covers a rule violation that creates only a minor danger to others where the driver's own fault is also only minor, driving while intoxicated below the qualified alcohol concentration covered in full on our drink driving page with no other violation involved, or breaching the separate zero tolerance alcohol prohibition with no other violation involved.

The consequence depends entirely on what happened in the two years before the new violation. A driver with a clean two year look back receives a formal warning and nothing more, under Art. 16a Abs. 3 SVG. A driver who already had a withdrawal or another administrative measure inside that same two year window instead receives a minimum one month withdrawal, under Art. 16a Abs. 2 SVG.

Art. 16a does not escalate any further on its own. A further leichte Widerhandlung inside the window still draws the same one month minimum, since no second or third rung exists inside this article. The authority also has discretion under Art. 16a Abs. 4 SVG to impose no measure at all in especially minor cases, though this is a waiver the authority grants, not a right the driver can insist on.

Art. 16b: the five rung mittelschwer ladder

A mittelschwere Widerhandlung is defined more broadly than a leichte one. It covers a rule violation that creates or merely accepts a danger to others, without the minor danger and minor fault qualifiers that limit Art. 16a, plus intoxicated driving below the qualified concentration alongside another minor violation, breaching the zero tolerance prohibition alongside another minor violation, driving without a licence for the vehicle category involved, or using a vehicle taken without authorisation.

The consequence runs through five separate rungs, and the look back window changes across them. The table below gives every rung exactly as Art. 16b Abs. 2 SVG states it.

Three different windows appear inside this single article. Rungs b, c and d all look back two years. Rung e looks back ten years, though the indefinite measure it sets is itself waived if the driver goes five clean years after an earlier withdrawal ends. Rung f looks back five years and is triggered only by a driver who already reached the most severe tier of this ladder or its schwer counterpart.

Consider a driver who already had two separate withdrawals for mittelschwere or worse violations within the past two years, and now commits a further mittelschwere Widerhandlung. That combination lands on rung c, a minimum nine month withdrawal, not rung b's four months, because rung b requires only one prior withdrawal and this driver has two.

Art. 16c: the schwer ladder, and the tier a build summary can easily miss

A schwere Widerhandlung requires a grobe, a gross, violation of traffic rules creating or accepting a serious danger to others, driving with a qualified alcohol concentration, driving unfit due to drugs or another cause, deliberately evading a blood or breath test, fleeing after injuring or killing someone, or driving despite an existing withdrawal.

The most consequential rung in this entire cluster sits inside this article, and it applies on a first offence with no prior history required at all. Art. 16c Abs. 2 lit. abis SVG sets a minimum two year withdrawal for intentional violation of elementary traffic rules that created a high risk of an accident with serious injury or death, named specifically as grossly excessive speed within the meaning of Art. 90 Abs. 4, reckless overtaking, or participating in an unauthorised race.

That two year minimum can be reduced, but only by up to twelve months, and only where the criminal sentence itself came in under a year under the Art. 90 Abs. 3bis or 3ter provisions covered in full on our excessive speeding page. Nothing else reduces it, and a clean driving record before the incident does not matter to this specific rung.

Rung c is reached two different ways, and missing the second path under classifies a real case. One prior severe withdrawal within five years reaches it on its own, and so does two prior medium withdrawals within the same five years, with no prior severe withdrawal needed at all.

The look back scheme here is not the same pair of numbers as Art. 16b's own ladder. Rungs b and c use five years, and rung d uses ten years, with rung e's permanent measure looking back five years again. A reader working from Art. 16b's two and ten year windows and assuming they carry over here will misclassify this ladder.

Art. 16c Abs. 1 lit. a SVG and Art. 90 Abs. 2 SVG use identical wording, a gross violation creating or accepting a serious danger to others. The same underlying conduct is what feeds both the criminal charge and this administrative classification, run as two entirely separate proceedings that reach two separate outcomes.

What actually separates leicht, mittelschwer and schwer

Fault is only graded explicitly at the leicht tier, where the statute requires only minor fault alongside a minor danger. At the two higher tiers the statute is satisfied once the driver creates or merely accepts the relevant degree of danger, whether or not the driver specifically intended the outcome.

Art. 15a: the probationary licence adds a second consequence

A first driving licence for a motorcycle or car in Switzerland is always issued on probation, for a fixed three year period under Art. 15a SVG. What happens to that probation if the holder commits a mittelschwere or schwere Widerhandlung is a separate consequence layered on top of whichever withdrawal length the tables above already produce.

A first mittelschwere or schwere violation during the probationary period extends it by one year, under Art. 15a Abs. 3 SVG. If the withdrawal itself runs past the end of the original three year period, the one year extension only starts counting once the licence is actually returned.

A second mittelschwere or schwere violation during the probationary period does something more severe than extend it again. Under Art. 15a Abs. 4 SVG, the probationary licence lapses entirely, using the statute's own word verfällt, and the holder is no longer a licensed driver at all rather than someone whose probation has simply been pushed back.

Getting a new licence back after that is not automatic. A new Lernfahrausweis can be issued at the earliest one year after the violation, and only on the strength of a positive verkehrspsychologisches Gutachten, a traffic psychological assessment confirming fitness to drive. That one year floor itself extends by another year if the person is caught driving during the interim.

The other tracks the same incident can trigger

A licence withdrawal runs through its own administrative proceeding, separate from the criminal case the same incident produces, a point our Swiss traffic law hub covers in more depth. Completing that criminal case, or paying the fine it imposes, does not resolve or prevent the administrative proceeding described above.

The fixed penalty procedure sits differently, and the distinction matters. Art. 16 Abs. 2 SVG attaches the withdrawal cascade specifically to violations for which the Ordnungsbussen procedure is excluded, so a violation genuinely handled as a fixed penalty does not normally reach this cascade at all. The independence described above bites once a violation is serious enough to leave the fixed penalty list, which is the situation every rung on this page assumes.

Our excessive speeding page covers the Art. 90 Abs. 4 thresholds referenced by rung abis in full, including the sentence reduction that can shorten it. Our drink driving page covers the qualified and zero tolerance alcohol concentrations referenced throughout the leicht, mittelschwer and schwer definitions. Our fixed penalty page covers the Ordnungsbussenverfahren that Art. 16 Abs. 2 excludes before this cascade even begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a Warnungsentzug and a Sicherungsentzug in Switzerland?

A Warnungsentzug is the graduated withdrawal that follows a specific traffic violation, run through the leicht, mittelschwer and schwer ladders in Art. 16a to Art. 16c SVG. A Sicherungsentzug is a different, mandatory withdrawal under Art. 16 Abs. 1 SVG for a driver who no longer meets the legal conditions to hold a licence at all, independent of any single violation.

How long is a driving ban for a first mittelschwere Widerhandlung in Switzerland?

A first mittelschwere Widerhandlung with no relevant prior withdrawal draws a minimum one month withdrawal under Art. 16b Abs. 2 lit. a SVG. The minimum climbs sharply on rungs b through f once a prior withdrawal exists within the applicable look back window.

Can my Swiss driving licence be withdrawn for two years on a first offence?

Yes, in one specific situation. Art. 16c Abs. 2 lit. abis SVG sets a mandatory two year minimum for intentional conduct meeting the Art. 90 Abs. 4 gross speed thresholds, reckless overtaking or an unauthorised race, and this rung applies on a first offence with no prior withdrawal needed.

Why might a licence still be withdrawn even after a criminal sentence is already complete?

A licence withdrawal runs through a separate administrative proceeding from the criminal case the same incident produced. Completing the criminal side, or paying the fine imposed there, does not resolve or prevent the administrative withdrawal proceeding described on this page.

What counts as a leichte, mittelschwere or schwere Widerhandlung in Switzerland?

The test moves on two axes, the degree of danger created and the degree of the rule violation. Leicht requires only minor danger and, uniquely, only minor fault. Mittelschwer requires an unqualified danger created or merely accepted. Schwer requires a gross rule violation creating a serious danger.

How does a probationary driving licence change if the holder commits a traffic violation in Switzerland?

A first mittelschwere or schwere violation during the three year probation extends it by one year under Art. 15a Abs. 3 SVG. A second such violation during probation annuls the licence entirely under Art. 15a Abs. 4 SVG, rather than extending the probation a second time.

Can a driving ban in Switzerland be permanent?

Yes. Both the mittelschwer ladder and the schwer ladder end in a permanent withdrawal, Art. 16b Abs. 2 lit. f and Art. 16c Abs. 2 lit. e, triggered when a driver already reached the indefinite tier of either ladder within the preceding five years.

Does the look back window for a Swiss licence withdrawal reset after every new violation?

No single window applies throughout. Art. 16b and Art. 16c each set their own look back period per rung, ranging from two years to ten years, so the relevant window depends on which specific rung the new violation and the prior history actually reach.